Johannes Zeiher [Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik]

Abstract: Neutral atoms trapped in optical lattices are a versatile platform to study many-body physics in and out of equilibrium. Quantum gas microscopes provide a unique toolbox to prepare, control and detect such systems at the level of individual quanta. In the first part of my talk, I will present our recent work on realizing extended Hubbard models for Rubidium atoms in optical lattices. Using off-resonant coupling from ground to Rydberg states, we induce interactions that are tunable via the excitation light. We probe the presence of interactions in different experiments on frozen spin systems and in the itinerant regime, where they stabilize initial out-of-equilibrium states. In particular, we also observe the buildup of density-density correlations when probing a one-dimensional extended Hubbard system near equilibrium. In another experimental effort, we probe the exotic relaxation behavior in tilted Hubbard models with strong kinetic constraints. Combining local initial-state control with site-resolved measurements, we find signatures of Hilbert space fragmentation in two spatial dimensions, as well as excitations of fractonic nature on top of otherwise immobile initial states. In the second part of the talk, I will introduce a new strontium setup that combines large-scale optical lattices with local control achieved through tweezer arrays. I will describe our efforts on controlling individual strontium atoms in optical tweezers and lattices, where we obtain high-fidelity and low-loss imaging performance using repulsive Sisyphus-cooling. Our work opens new perspectives to scale tweezer-based quantum simulators to larger system sizes and an alternative preparation route of assembled Hubbard systems in optical lattices without the need for evaporation.